Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Read my hips: Measuring trochanteric soft tissue thickness

  • Clinical Investigations
  • Published:
Calcified Tissue International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

There is considerable uncertainty about which factors best predict hip fractures in the elderly. We have previously shown that a global measure of body habitus, the body mass index (BMI), is an important predictor of hip fracture in this age group. BMI may serve as a surrogate measure of trochanteric soft tissue thickness. To determine a more local assessment of trochanteric soft tissue, we compared trochanteric soft tissue thickness by ultrasound to other local measures of trochanteric soft tissue thickness (by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry [DXA] and hip circumference) and global measures of body habitus [body mass index (BMI), bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), hip/waist circumference] in 50 healthy, community-dwelling women [72±4 years old (mean±SD)]. Ultrasound was highly correlated with DXA trochanteric soft tissue (r2=0.815, P<0.0001), hip circumference (r2=0.810, P<0.0001), BMI (r2=0.721, P<0.0001), and BIA (r2=0.743, P<0.0001). Trochanteric soft tissue thickness measured by DXA was also significantly (P<0.0001) correlated with BMI and BIA. We conclude that local assessments of trochanteric soft tissue thickness, including DXA and hip circumference, provide an easy and noninvasive technique to assess trochanteric soft tissue thickness.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Resnick NM, Greenspan SL (1989) “Senile” osteoporosis reconsidered. J Am Med Assoc 261:1025–1029

    Google Scholar 

  2. Anonymous (1986) National Center for Health Statistics. Advance data from vital and health statistics. 1985 Summary: national hospital discharge surgery. Hyattsville, MD, PHS 86-1250

  3. Holbrook TL, Grazier K, Kelsey JL, Stauffer RN (1984) The frequency of occurrence, impact, and cost of selected musculoskeletal conditions in the United States. Am Acad Orthop Surg

  4. Phillips S, Fox N, Jacobs J, Wright W (1988) The direct medical costs of osteoporosis for American women aged 45 and older, 1986. Bone 9:271–279

    Google Scholar 

  5. Cummings SR, Kelsey JL, Nevitt MI, O'Dowd KJ (1985) Epidemiology of osteoporosis & osteoporotic fractures. Epidemiol Rev 7:178–208

    Google Scholar 

  6. Cummings SR, Black D (1986) Should perimenopausal women be screened for osteoporosis? Ann Intern Med 104:817–823

    Google Scholar 

  7. Melton LJ, O'Fallon WM, Riggs BL (1987) Secular trends in the incidence of hip fractures. Calcif Tissue Int 41:57–64

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cummings SR (1987) Epidemiology of hip fractures. Proc Int Symp Osteo 1:40–43

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kelsey JL, Hoffman S (1987) Risk factors for hip fracture. N Engl J Med 316:404–406

    Google Scholar 

  10. Melton LJ III, Wahner HW, Richelson LS, O'Fallon WM, Riggs BL (1986) Osteoporosis and the risk of hip fracture. Am J Epidemiol 124:254–261

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cummings SR (1985) Are patients with hip fractures more osteoporotic? Am J Med 78:487–494

    Google Scholar 

  12. Ray WA, Griffin MR, Schaffner W, Baugh DK, Melton LJ III (1987) Psychotropic drug use and the risk of hip fracture. N Engl J Med 316:363–369

    Google Scholar 

  13. Felsen DT, Anderson JJ, Hannon MT, Milton RC, Wilson PWF, Kiel DP (1989) Impaired vision and hip fracture: The Framingham Study. J Am Geriatr Soc 37:495–500

    Google Scholar 

  14. Grisso JA, Kelsey JL, Strom BL (1991) Risk factors for falls as a cause of hip fracture in women. N Engl J Med 324:1326–1331

    Google Scholar 

  15. Cummings SR, Nevitt MC (1989) A hypothesis: the causes of hip fractures. J Gerontol 44:M107-M111

    Google Scholar 

  16. Melton LJ, Riggs BL (1985) Risk factors for injury after a fall. Clin Geriatr Med 1:525–539

    Google Scholar 

  17. Greenspan SL, Resnick NM, Maitland LA, Lipsitz LA, Myers ER, Hayes WC (1990) Fall biomechanics and body mass index: better determinants than bone density of hip fracture in elderly women. 72nd Ann Mtg Endocrinol Soc

  18. Hipp JA, Myers ER, Greenspan SL, Maitland LA, Hecker AT, Hayes WC (1991) Soft tissue thickness and energy absorption capacity as potential determinants of hip fracture risk. Trans 37th Ann Mtg ORS, p 435

  19. Weits A, van der Bier EJ, Wedel M (1968) Comparison of ultrasound and skinfold caliper measurement of subcutaneous fat tissue. Int J Obes 10:161–168

    Google Scholar 

  20. Black D, Vora J, Hayward M, Martis R (1989) Measurement of subcutaneous fat thickness with high frequency pulsed ultrasound: comparisons with a caliper and a radiographic technique. Clin Phys Physiol Meas 9:57–64

    Google Scholar 

  21. Hansen WE, Kehrer H (1987) Assessment of cutaneous fat and body fat by ultrasound. Klin Wochenschur 65:407–410

    Google Scholar 

  22. Balta PJ, Ward MWM, Tomkins AM (1981) Ultrasound for measurement of subcutaneous fat. Lancet pp 504–505

  23. Katch FI (1983) Individual differences of ultrasound assessment of subcutaneous fat: effects of body position. Hum Biol 55:789–795

    Google Scholar 

  24. Hughes VA, Evans WJ (1987) Assessment of fat-free mass in an older population using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Fed Proc, 71st Ann Mtg, p 46

  25. Callaway CW, Chumlea WC, Bouchard C, Humes JH, Lohman TG, Martin AD, Mitchell CD, Mueller WH, Roche AT, Seefeldt VD (1988) Circumferences. In: Lohman TG, Roche AF, Martorell R (eds) Anthropometric standardization reference manual. Human Kinetics Books, Champaign, Illinois, pp 44–47

    Google Scholar 

  26. Lukashi HC, Johnson PE, Bolonchuk WW, Lykken OI (1985) Assessment of fat-free mass using bioelectrial impedance measurements of the human body. Am J Clin Nutr 41:810–817

    Google Scholar 

  27. Svendsen OL, Haarbo J, Heitinan BL, Gotfredsent A, Christiansen C (1991) Measurements of body fat in elderly subjects by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, bioelectrical independence analysis, and anthropometry. Am J Clin Nutr 53:1117–1123

    Google Scholar 

  28. Heymsfield SB, Smith R, Aulet M, Bensen B, Lichtman S, Wang J, Pierson RN Jr (1990) Appendicular skeletal muscle mass: measurements by dual-proton absorptiometry. Am J Clin Nutr 52:214–218

    Google Scholar 

  29. Farmer ME, Harris T, Madans JH, Wallace RB, Cornoni-Huntley J, White LR (1989) Anthropometric indicators and hip fracture. The NHANES, epidemiologic follow-up study. J Am Geriatr Soc 37:9–16

    Google Scholar 

  30. Cooper C, Barker DJP, Wickham C (1988) Physical activity, muscle strength, and calcium intake in fracture of the proximal femur in Britain. B Med J 297:1443–1446

    Google Scholar 

  31. Grisso JA, Kelsey JL, Strom BL, Chin GY, Maislin G, O'Brien LA, Hoffman S, Kaplan F, and the Northeast Hip Fracture Study Group (1991) Risk factors for falls as a cause of hip fracture in women. N Engl J Med 324:1326–1331

    Google Scholar 

  32. Paganini-Hill A, Chao A, Ross RK, Henderson BE (1991) Exercise and other factors in the prevention of hip fracture: the leisure world study. Epidemiology 2:16–25

    Google Scholar 

  33. Heidrich FE, Stergachis A, Gross KM (1991) Diuretic drug use and the risk for hip fracture. Ann Int Med 115:1–6

    Google Scholar 

  34. Lindsay R, Cosman F, Herrington BS, Himmelstein S (1992) Bone mass and body composition in normal women. J Bone Miner Res 7:55–63

    Google Scholar 

  35. Pruzansky ME, Turano M, Luckey M, Senie R (1989) Low body weight as a risk factor for hip fracture in both black and white women. J Orthop Res 7:192–197

    Google Scholar 

  36. Cummings SR, Kelsey JL, Nevitt MC, O'Dowd KJ (1985) Epidemiology of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures. Epidemiol Rev 7:178–208

    Google Scholar 

  37. Kiel DP, Felsen DT, Anderson JJ, Wilson PWF, Moskowitz MA (1987) Hip fracture and the use of estrogen in postmenopausal women. N Engl J Med 317:1169–1174

    Google Scholar 

  38. Robinovitch SN, Hayes WC, McMahon TA (1991) Prediction of femoral impact forces in falls on the hip ASME. J Biomech Eng 113:366–374

    Google Scholar 

  39. Fukagawa NK, Bandini LG, Young JB (1990) Effect of age on body composition and resting metabolic rate. Am J Physiol 259:E233-E238

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gerontology, Department of Medicine, Charles A. Dana Research Institute, Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, 02215, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Lauri A. Maitland, Elizabeth R. Myers, John A. Hipp, Wilson C. Hayes & Susan L. Greenspan

  2. Division of Bone and Mineral Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Charles A. Dana Research Institute, Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, 02215, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Lauri A. Maitland, Elizabeth R. Myers, John A. Hipp, Wilson C. Hayes & Susan L. Greenspan

  3. the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Charles A. Dana Research Institute, Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, 02215, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Lauri A. Maitland, Elizabeth R. Myers, John A. Hipp, Wilson C. Hayes & Susan L. Greenspan

Authors
  1. Lauri A. Maitland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elizabeth R. Myers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John A. Hipp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Wilson C. Hayes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Susan L. Greenspan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Maitland, L.A., Myers, E.R., Hipp, J.A. et al. Read my hips: Measuring trochanteric soft tissue thickness. Calcif Tissue Int 52, 85–89 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00308313

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00308313

Key words

Search

Navigation